This invention relates to the fabrication of devices incorporating microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). More particularly, the invention relates to a method of fabricating MEMS devices using UV curable tapes. For the sake of brevity, such a device shall be referred to below as a MEMS device and the part of the device comprising the microelectromechanical system shall be referred to as a MEMS layer.
According to the invention, there is provided a method of fabricating MEMS devices, the method including the steps of:
providing a substrate with a MEMS layer arranged on one side of the substrate;
applying a first holding means to the MEMS layer;
performing at least one operation on the substrate from a side of the substrate opposed to the side having the MEMS layer;
applying a second holding means to said opposed side of the substrate;
removing the first holding means;
performing at least one operation on the MEMS layer to define individual MEMS chips, each chip being composed of a part of the substrate and at least one part of the MEMS layer; and
causing the individual chips to be released from the second holding means for removal from the second holding means.
Preferably, the method includes bonding the first holding means to the substrate. Optionally, a handling means may be applied to the first holding means. The handling means may impart rigidity to the holding means and may facilitate manipulation of a laminate, the laminate comprising the substrate and the MEMS layer.
The operations performed on the substrate may include at least one of thinning the substrate and etching the substrate from the opposed side of the substrate to divide the substrate into individual chips.
Further, the operations performed on the MEMS layer may consist of removing sacrificial material from the layer to release individual MEMS chips. The MEMS chip may comprise a part of the substrate and at least one MEMS element or component.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the method may include applying the second holding means to the substrate before removal of the first holding means.
The second holding means may also be bonded to the substrate. Both the first holding means and the second holding means may be in the form of tapes which have adhesives which are curable by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. By xe2x80x9ccurablexe2x80x9d is meant that the adhesive loses its adhesive properties when exposed to UV light. Thus, the method may include exposing localised regions of the second holding means to the UV light to release one MEMS chip at a time from the second holding means to enable each MEMS chip to be removed individually from the second holding means.
Optionally, the method may include applying a handling means to the second holding means. The handling means may be transparent to the UV light so that the UV light is transmitted through the handling means to cure the adhesive of the second holding means.
Each handling means may be in the form of a glass, quartz, alumina or equivalent wafer.
The method may finally include removing each chip from the second holding means by a transporting means.